E pluribus unum

Chronique

Pianist Liza Stepanova writes that the idea for her album E Pluribus Unum was "born in 2017" as the "political climate surrounding the issue of immigration was beginning to change." Stepanova was directly affected: her piano student, Badie Khaleghian, found his parents barred from coming to the U.S. to attend his graduation recital. Khaleghian is present on Stepanova's program, along with a variety of other composers, most of whom push an essentially Bartókian idiom in new directions. The music comes from U.S. immigrant composers, and it is accompanied by notes pertaining to memories and experiences regarding each work. Composer Reinaldo Moya's The Way North, for example, depicts scenes encountered by migrants traveling north toward the U.S. Many of the meanings are personal to the composers, and that, even more than Stepanova's clean playing and the general emphasis on the importance of immigrant contributions to American culture, is what makes the album successful. It effectively fuses personal significance with a variety of contemporary approaches to vernacular musical styles. Along the way, there are all kinds of enjoyable moments: the sampling of Queen Elizabeth II by Anna Clyne, the Piazzolla-and-then-some music of Pablo Ortiz, the mix of abstraction with Turkish and Balkan roots in Kamran Ince's Symphony in Blue. An engaging program for lovers of American music, or really for anyone.
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